Boulder's Marian Mead shines at Iron Girl

Seear, former Australian Olympian, wins event

It wasn't until Marian Mead turned 40 that she decided to give triathlons a shot.

On Sunday, the 47-year-old Boulder resident proved she's taken to the sport quite well.

Mead was the top local finisher at the third annual Athleta Iron Girl Boulder triathlon at Boulder Reservoir. She finished third overall, in a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes, 32 seconds.

"Totally awesome," she said of her race. "I've never gone that fast before, so I'm very proud."

Maxine Seear, 28, a 2004 Olympian from Brookfield, Australia, won the event with a time of 1:15.17. Denver's Robin Waterman, 49, was second.

This was actually the seventh consecutive year that Iron Girl has held an event in Boulder, but just third year as a triathlon.

As in the past, it was a morning of celebration for women athletes of all skill levels. Race announcers recounted competitors' stories throughout the day. Competitors included breast cancer survivors, those who had achieved significant weight loss and many who just like to stay fit, no matter what their age.

That included Mead, who took up triathlons seven years ago because, "I needed something to do," she said.

Her first two triathlons, Mead competed on a mountain bike. She then switched to a road bike and said, "I just haven't looked back.

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It's just an awesome way to have fun."

Mead finished the 400-meter swim in 7:20, the 17.2-mile bike ride in 45:57 and the 3.1-mile run in 24:04.

"I don't know if I'm rested or just in better shape," she said in explaining her performance. "I had a (personal record) on all three events for myself, so I have to feel really good.

"I gave it absolutely everything I had on all three things."

She had enough in her tank, however, to head out on a 60-mile bike ride on Sunday afternoon with her daughter, 14-year-old Tatum. Unfortunately for Tatum, who will be a freshman at Boulder High School this fall, Sunday's race didn't go so well. She got a flat tire just a couple miles into the bike ride and had to bow out. According to Marian, a race official told her that Tatum was the only competitor among the nearly 450 to get a flat tire.

For the most part, Sunday's race was filled with success stories. One of those came from Waterman, who had a great performance. She was the first competitor to cross the finish line, but because the race began in waves based on age group, she was not the overall winner.

"(Seear) seemed like she was super strong and had great times, so that's all right," said Waterman, who was officially entered as Robin Waterwoman -- a name she has registered under for races since her 20s. "It's fun to be even second overall.

Since its inception in 2004, Iron Girl has had a mission of empowering women through fitness and competition. There was heavy emphasis on good sportsmanship and encouragement for each other. At the finish line, there were plenty of hugs, celebratory dances, cheers and smiles.

"I feel like I'm a part of a big party of women who are celebrating, but not through alcohol or drugs or anything kind of wild like that," said Waterman, "but just by being healthy, and let's celebrate that we have strong bodies and we try to live a healthy lifestyle."

NOTABLE: Sunday's race had 444 finishers and seven others who did not finish. Participation numbers were a steep decline from 2011 (819 finishers) and 2010 (619 finishers). The event was held on a Saturday in late August the past two years. ... One of the youngest competitors was 13-year-old Winter Vinecki from Salem, Ore. She was seventh overall. Vinecki lost her father to prostate cancer four years ago and has since raised nearly $500,000 for prostate cancer research through her foundation, TeamWinter. To read more about her and the foundation, visit www.teamwinter.org. ... Littleton's Joanne Thompson, 69, was the oldest competitor.

Brian Howell can be reached at bhowell@times-call.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BrianHowell33.

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